Planting seeds is one of the most important methods of propagating many species of plants. Examples of plants which may be propagated from seeds include vines such as cucumbers, watermelons, and cantaloupes, flowers such as marigolds, zinnias, and pansies, cereals and small grains such as corn, wheat, oats, and barley, forage crops and grasses, such as alfalfa, lespedeza, clover, orchard grass, bluegrass and fescue, beans such as soybeans, string beans, pinto beans, navy beans and lima beans, peas such as English peas, chickpeas and black-eyed peas, and shrubbery and trees such as juniper, cedar, holly, pine, poplar and maple.
Normally, seeds are placed directly in the soil at the proper depth and spacing for the species being planted. Certain types of seeds, however, are extremely small which often makes planting difficult. These smaller seeds are also difficult to see which also adds to the difficulty of their planting. Examples of small seeds include alfalfa, celery and any type of grass seed.
Alfalfa seeds are much smaller than most seeds. Attempts to alleviate the problems associated with planting alfalfa seeds have included coating the seeds to make them larger and therefore easier to see and to plant. Seed coatings have also been used to house other ingredients to enhance seed propagation, such as pesticides, moldicides, fungicides, filler, and nutrients including nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus.
The current industry standard for coating alfalfa seeds is to place the coating on the seed in an amount based on 33% of the weight of the seed. These coatings have been applied using a rotary drum method wherein the seed is tumbled while the coating composition is sprayed thereon and a stream of hot air is directed at the coated seeds. Other coating methods include pan-type arrangements, all of which are well known in the art.
There are several problems associated with these thick coatings. First, the coatings often do not stick to the seed well and can also chip and crack. This can cause the planters to get clogged or messy. Further, the thick coating impedes the rate of the flow of seeds in planters. This also leads to planter clogging.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a seed coating to coat various types of seeds to make them easier to plant.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seed coating which does not clog or make a mess in planters.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a seed coating which provides a seed size which is more acceptable to customers.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a seed coating which increases the size of seeds which would otherwise have to be discarded.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a thin seed coating for seeds that would be too large with the conventional coating and would otherwise have to be discarded.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a seed coating which allows seeds to flow easier through planters than conventionally coated seeds.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a seed coating which makes the seed easy to recognize and is aesthetically pleasing.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a seed coating which is economical to manufacture.
These and other objects of this invention are described more fully hereinafter.